Client not paying a recruitment fee: statutory interest at 11.75%, the fixed £40 to £100, and the two letters to send

A client who is late paying a recruitment fee owes more than the fee. Unless your terms set their own rate, the law adds statutory interest at 8% over Bank Rate, which is 11.75% a year for a debt that falls overdue between 1 July and 31 December 2026, plus a fixed sum of £40, £70 or £100. On an £8,208 invoice that is £2.64 a day.

This guide covers a business client in England and Wales.

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Late recruitment fee letter maker: reminder and final notice

Fill in the invoice, the due date and the interest worked out to today. The tool writes the reminder to send the day after the due date, and the final notice that claims statutory interest and the fixed sum, with the pay-by dates worked out.

Which letterReminder, the day after the due dateFinal notice, two to three weeks later Who the letter goes to Invoice number Invoice amount, including VAT Date payment was dueFrom your terms. Interest runs from the day after. Candidate placed Date the candidate started Statutory interest rate, % a year8 plus Bank Rate. 11.75 for a debt that falls late from 1 July to 31 December 2026. If your terms set their own rate, use that. Interest to todayInvoice amount × rate ÷ 100 × days late ÷ 365, counting from the day after the due date. £8,208 at 11.75% for 45 days is £118.90. Fixed sum£40 for a debt up to £999.99, £70 for £1,000 to £9,999.99, £100 for £10,000 or more. Total due todayInvoice amount plus interest plus the fixed sum.

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• Read your terms first. GOV.UK says statutory interest cannot be claimed if the contract sets a different rate of interest; if yours does, use that rate.
• The reminder makes no threat and mentions no interest. Attach the invoice and the accepted terms.
• With the final notice, attach a new invoice for the interest and the fixed sum, and use the figures for the day you send it.
• The guide worked interest on the invoice including VAT; confirm that with your accountant. It did not cover the court rules on letters before a claim, so have a solicitor read the final notice.

The rule this rests on: Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, sections 4 and 5A. A draft to check and adapt, not legal advice.

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When the invoice is late

GOV.UK sets out two cases.

• You agreed a payment date. The invoice is late the day after it. Between businesses that date must usually be within 60 days.
• You agreed nothing. The invoice is late 30 days after the client gets it, or 30 days after the service was provided if that is later.

For a permanent placement your terms decide when the fee falls due, usually the candidate's start date, so start with the terms.

Check the file before you chase

1. The terms, and proof that the client accepted them. Without acceptance the argument is about whether a fee is owed at all, which the terms of business guide covers.
2. The interest clause. GOV.UK says you cannot claim statutory interest "if there's a different rate of interest in a contract". If your terms give a rate, that rate applies.
3. The start date, confirmed in writing, and the salary the fee was worked from.
4. The invoice itself: the right legal entity, any purchase order number, the due date printed on it.
5. The rebate clause. Many terms make a rebate conditional on the invoice being paid on time, so a late payer who later asks for a rebate may have lost it. The fee and rebate calculator prints the scale with dates.

The sum, worked

A candidate on £38,000 at an 18% fee produces an invoice of £6,840, or £8,208 with VAT. The terms give 14 days. The invoice is dated 3 August 2026, so it is due on 17 August and interest starts to run on 18 August.

The rate is fixed twice a year. The 2002 Order uses the Bank Rate in force on 30 June for interest that starts to run from 1 July to 31 December, and the rate on 31 December for the following six months. Bank Rate has been 3.75% since 18 December 2025, so it was 3.75% on 30 June 2026.

We worked the interest on the full invoice including VAT. The GOV.UK pages do not say whether VAT is part of the base, so confirm it with your accountant first.

The fixed sum

You can charge it once for each late payment. Section 5A of the Act lets a supplier claim the difference if its reasonable recovery costs are higher.

Letter one: the reminder, the day after the due date

Subject: Invoice [number], £8,208.00, due 17 August 2026

Dear [name],

Our invoice [number] for the introduction of [candidate], who started with you on [date], was due on 17 August 2026 and has not reached us. A copy is attached, with our terms as accepted on [date].

Please pay by [date, seven days on] or tell me today if anything is holding it up, such as a purchase order number.

Kind regards

It makes no threat and mentions no interest. A named obstacle is quicker to clear than a dispute.

Letter two: the final letter

Subject: Final notice before court claim: invoice [number]

Dear [name],

Invoice [number] for £8,208.00 fell due on 17 August 2026 and remains unpaid.

Under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 we are now claiming statutory interest at 11.75% a year from 18 August 2026, which is £2.64 a day and £118.90 to today, and the fixed sum of £70. The total due today is £8,396.90. An invoice for the interest and the fixed sum is attached.

If we have not received payment in full by [date, 14 days on] we will issue a claim in the county court for the debt, the interest to the date of judgment and the court fee, without further notice.

Yours sincerely

GOV.UK says to send a new invoice when you add interest, which is why one is attached. The figures are those of 1 October 2026 from the worked sum. Send yours two to three weeks after the reminder, with that day's figures.

If the date passes

The court fee is set by the amount claimed including interest:

The £8,396.90 in the example costs £455 to issue, and GOV.UK says you may be able to claim the fee back if you win. It also says mediation could be quicker and cheaper than court, and that Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own claim process. A temp-to-perm fee has an extra hurdle before any of this, because the fee itself must fall inside the statutory window in the transfer fee guide.

We did not read the court rules on what a letter before a claim must contain, so have a solicitor read letter two before it goes.

Overlyft can set up an AI Compliance Clerk that checks every new client for signed terms before the first CV goes out, and a Candidate Coordinator that records the start date and confirms it with the client in writing on the day. Who is put forward is the consultant's decision. This page is general information, not legal advice.